Hybrid sodium-ion battery can be charged in a few minutes

Sodium (Na) has recently garnered attention for its potential in sodium-ion battery technologies. However, existing sodium-ion batteries face fundamental limitations, including lower power output, constrained storage spaces and longer charging times, thereby necessitating the development of next-generation energy storage materials. Researchers from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), led by Professor Jeung Ku Kang, have now developed a high-energy, high-power hybrid sodium-ion battery capable of rapid charging.

The innovative hybrid energy storage system integrates anode materials typically used in batteries with cathodes suitable for supercapacitors. This combination allows the device to achieve high storage capacities and rapid charge-discharge rates, making it a viable next-generation alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

However, the development of a hybrid battery with high energy and high power density requires an improvement to the slow energy storage rate of battery-type anodes as well as the enhancement of the relatively low capacity of supercapacitor-type cathode materials. To account for this, Kang’s team used two distinct metal-organic frameworks for the optimised synthesis of hybrid batteries. This approach led to the development of an anode with improved kinetics through the inclusion of fine active materials in porous carbon derived from metal-organic frameworks. A high-capacity cathode material was also synthesised and the combination of the cathode and anode materials allowed for the development of a sodium-ion storage system that optimised the balance and minimised the disparities in energy storage rates between the electrodes.

The assembled cell, comprising the newly developed anode and cathode, forms a high-performance hybrid sodium-ion energy storage device. This device reportedly surpasses the energy density of commercial Li-ion batteries and exhibits the characteristics of supercapacitors’ power density. It is expected to be suitable for rapid charging applications ranging from electric vehicles to smart electronic devices and aerospace technologies.

Kang said that the hybrid sodium-ion energy storage device represents a breakthrough in overcoming the current limitations of energy storage systems. The research findings have been published in the journal Energy Storage Materials.

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